Diego
by madasmonty
Summary: "I tried not to feel it when the fiery pain seared through my arm. I tried to focus on the feel of Bree's hand in mine... I  blotted out the pain because it hurt too much..." Oneshot of Diego's last thoughts.


**Diego**

"'_When I take you to her and hold you as she tears off your legs and then slowly, slowly burns off your fingers, ears, lips, tongue, and every other superfluous appendage one by one...' I realised I had been hearing a description of Diego's death..."_

-The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, page 152-153

Her eyes stared straight into mine. Her voice was sincere when she spoke: "Be careful."

Those were the last words I would ever hear from her. How like Bree to watch out for me until the very last possible moment. Her deep burgundy eyes were so worried. It pained me to see her so scared for me. Didn't she know I had no reason to fear? Riley was my friend. Or as close to a friend as you could get in this blood-crazed second life. He wouldn't hurt me. He'd have a logical explanation. Perhaps he didn't know about the sun not hurting us. Maybe my friend was as much in the dark (figuratively speaking) as we were.

I set off back to the odd little house where we knew Riley was. I was going to find out about this. I couldn't bear the thought of Riley lying to us. There had to be a reason. And, once we'd talked, Bree and I could go. We could go far away from here. I'd only really known Bree for a short amount of time, but I already was certain I couldn't live without her. Once this was all cleared up we could explore this new world ourselves. It was obvious there was so much we didn't know. Those weird cloaked vampires were one thing. Sparkling like disco-balls in the sunlight. How many other vampires were there? Where were they? Why hadn't we come across any? The questions were almost endless. But one thing was certain: I wanted to find the answers with Bree by my side. I loved her. We'd formed a silly little BFF-ninja-club but it went deeper than that. Without needing words to convey our feelings we'd fallen in love. Anything that happened next was irrelevant compared to the happiness I felt when I was with her.

I reached the house and paused. My hearing was as sharp as ever as I listened for signs of life inside. I could sense there was someone inside rather than hear them. I took a deep breath. It was now or never. The door was unlocked; not that it would have been a challenge if it was locked. To a human the inside of the house would have been dark but I could see perfectly. Riley was leaning against the far wall opposite the door. He leapt to attention when I walked in. His eager face creased into a frown when he saw it was me.

_Probably waiting for Her _I thought.

"Diego? What are you doing here?" Riley's surprise was apparent. He had now taken a step away from the wall and was standing in an almost predatory way. His scarlet eyes were gleaming and his muscles were tense. "You should be with the others."

I ignored this comment. "Riley." I paused, wondering how to tell him. But I couldn't find a better way than just saying "I know."

The effect was instantaneous. He ran across the room in a blur and was in front of me in a second. The fury in his eyes was smouldering and his hands were curled into fists. Not for the first time in my second life, I feared death. "Know what?" He hissed.

"I know about the sun." I said, simply.

This time the fury didn't flair up. What could only be described as sorrow filled his ruby eyes. Then he looked right at me with the deepest sadness and pity. "I don't want to know how you found out." He whispered. "I don't want to do this. Not to you."

Warning bells started to ring in my head. Do what to me? What did he mean? The emotions he felt were so clear on his face I was starting to worry. Perhaps Bree was right after all. Maybe I shouldn't have gone to Riley. "Do what?" I dared to ask.

Riley took this moment to grab my arms and pin them to my sides. I struggled furiously but to no avail. Riley had always been stronger than me and this time I was so shocked that the strength was knocked out of me.

"Whatever happens next I promise you it'll be okay." He whispered to me. I frowned for a moment. What would happen next? But I decided to trust him. He was only doing what he had to and he'd promised it was okay.

"Hello." A high voice came from behind me. I recognized it immediately to be our creator. I froze and spun around.

As I set eyes on our creator my first thought was how pretty she was. Her red hair hung wildly around her face and her eyes were large and the darkest blood red I'd ever seen on a vampire. Her skin was as pale as the moonlight and her lips were full and dark. Those lips were smiling now. But it wasn't a nice smile. It was the grin of a fox about to eat a baby chick.

"Does anyone else know?" She asked, her shrill voice hammered my ears. I writhed in Riley's grip. But then his words came back to me. It would be okay. I just had to answer Her questions. But Her smile said otherwise. I knew in my heart that it would _not _be okay. I couldn't tell her about Bree. They'd kill her if they knew. Like they were going to kill me.

That revelation smashed into me like a rock. I was going to be killed. My friend was going to kill me. Or rather, my friend and Her. To be killed by the one who created me. I would have laughed had my throat not closed up in terror.

"Answer me!" She screamed.

"Just do it." Riley hissed into my ear. "Give her what she wants." He seemed to be half talking to himself rather than me. "Give her what she wants. This is all for her."

"No." I whispered. "Nobody else knows."

The woman nodded. "Good. I don't have time to kill anymore." She sighed slowly. Like this was a chore she had to do. "It was a shame about the last two." She said over my head, to Riley. "They seemed like good vampires. But _this one..._" He voice became lower and she stroked my cheek in an almost loving gesture. I heard Riley make a noise like an animal in pain as she looked into my eyes with what might have been mistaken for compassion. "I'll be sorry to kill this one. He's handsome." She smiled wolfishly. Then she looked back to Riley. "What on earth are you doing?" She asked shrilly.

With difficulty I twisted my head to see Riley still behind me, holding my arms back. His face had contorted and he'd shut his eyes. He was taking deep and deliberate breaths. I knew at once what he was doing and the woman did too. He was trying to cry. Vampires cannot cry. It's a fact. But Riley was trying to hide the fact he was trying to cry.

"Just do it." The woman spat. "He cannot live. We need ORDER!" She shouted the last word and Riley jumped a little. She took a slow breath to calm herself. "We need order." She repeated, more quietly this time.

Then I felt her nails grip my face. She twisted my head to face her. I was shocked to see how close she was to me. I could smell her blood breath and see the flecks of darker red in her eyes. "I want to look at you when you die." She whispered right into my ear. "I want to see the lights leave your eyes."

I didn't want my last sight to be _her. _I wanted to see Bree. My beloved Bree. My best friend. And something much more than that. My whole world.

I tried not to feel it when the fiery pain seared through my arm. I tried to focus on the feel of Bree's hand in mine. I tried not to hear it when a scream ripped from my throat. I tried to focus on the sound of Bree's sing-song beautiful voice. I tried not to see it when my arm was thrown onto the fire. I tried to focus on the imagined sight of Bree right beside me.

I blotted out the pain because it hurt too much. I blotted out the screams because they were too unbearable. I blotted out the sight because it was too horrific.

I shut my eyes.

THE END


End file.
